Dev Update #2 — Demo March 24, Combat Feel Overhaul
[h2]Demo — March 24[/h2][p]Steam demo drops March 24. It covers summer 1914 through your first combat patrols — the opening act of the war.[/p][p]You'll create your pilot, pick a specialization (fighter, recon, or bomber), fly your first sorties over the Western Front, and get into your first hex tactical fights. It's a real slice of the game, not a tutorial. Your choices stick, your kills count, and the war moves whether you're ready or not.[/p][p]Wishlist now so you don't miss it.[/p][h2]Player Experience Overhaul[/h2][p]Last update was about visuals. This one's about feel — making the game actually respond to what you're doing, moment to moment.[/p][p]Near-miss urgency. When your aircraft gets shot up, you know it. HP below 50% triggers damage warnings. Below 25%, critical. On fire? You see it immediately. Enemy trailing smoke? You know you're close to a kill.[/p][p]Enriched victories. Downing an enemy now shows wreckage, combat stats (rounds fired, damage dealt, ammo remaining), and atmospheric text. No more winning a dogfight and getting a one-liner.[/p][p]Decoration ceremonies. Earn a Military Cross or Distinguished Flying Cross and you get a proper ceremony screen — royal warrant, squadron reactions, the weight of the moment. Not a line in a log.[/p][p]Observation feedback. Every observation choice during sorties now produces visible consequences — 30 variants across mission types and pilot temperaments. No more choices that vanish into nothing.[/p][p]Narrative variety. Quiet return flights, no-encounter patrols, sortie vignettes — all expanded from 1–2 variants to 8+ per category. Repeat playthroughs actually feel different.[/p][p]The through-line: every screen should feel like something is happening. You make a choice, the game reacts. You survive a dogfight, the game acknowledges it.[/p][h2]Build Quality[/h2][p]Build is tight. 15 dedicated QA passes since last update — full playthrough sweeps across all six acts, all three specializations, dozens of edge cases. Automated test suite grew from 1,414 to 1,547 tests, all passing.[/p][p]Historical accuracy got a close look too. Aircraft date-gated to actual service entry. RFC transitions to RAF in April 1918. Aces appear and disappear at historically correct dates. Anachronistic references scrubbed from mission briefings and events.[/p][p]Combat math, viewport layout, save/load fidelity, screen density — all ground through methodically. Goal: nothing feels unfinished or broken on day one.[/p][h2]What's Next[/h2][p]Between now and March 24:[/p]
- [p]Continued polish — every screen, every edge case[/p]
- [p]Demo tuning — first hour needs to be airtight[/p]
- [p]Steam integration — achievements, cloud saves[/p]